Life's a Picnic

Jansen likes playing "picnic" lately. This is a picnic:

A big ol' crazy mess of toys and other household oddities. That's about all "playing picnic" entails. Throw it all in a pile and you're set. Oh, and don't let Natalie touch ANY of it.

Tomorrow's my first experience doing church alone with both kids. I am wondering if I should even attempt to go in the chapel. Nate is a couple weeks into his surgery rotation and is very busy. He's done about 75 hours this week so far and will put in some more tomorrow morning. Can't wait for this one to be over!

Just Adding a Little Excitement to My Day

Who says being a stay at home mom isn't exciting???

I walked into the garage yesterday while talking on my cell phone and Jansen followed me out and shut the door after us. While I was on the phone I tried to go back in the house, but the door was locked. And so were all the other doors to get into the house. And Natalie was inside taking her nap! I started to panic, but then realized I had opened the window in our bedroom a little bit that morning. THANK GOODNESS!

My friend's husband who also happens to be our hometeacher (for those who aren't familiar with that term here's the definition ) found a ladder and came to our rescue. He even brought his wife's camera (that was our idea) so that I could blog about this little experience.

Natalie was even still sleeping once we broke in. I am SO happy she was tucked away in her crib and not wandering around the house scared and alone and playing with naughty, dangerous things. It really all worked out about as perfect as it could.

Something to Look Forward To...

A few days ago Nate said he had a surprise for me. He wouldn't tell me a single other detail because I am pretty good about ruining/finding out about surprises.

Well, here's the surprise:

Tickets to Celine Dion when she comes to Columbus! And it gets better....he got 4 tickets so that I could bring a few friends! I am extremely excited. I LOVE having something to look forward to.

A Little Bit of Magic

I am touched by some pretty unusual things sometimes...and of course by some not so unusual things as well.

An unusual thing: after dropping Jansen off at preschool and heading back home, I spotted a line of UPS trucks caravaning up the road to begin a day's work. It was almost inspiring to me. The way we all wake up and do our thing the best we can and the world keeps spinning because we are all doing our little part.

A perhaps not so unusual thing: the beautiful butterfly that looked like it was flying straight for me, I honestly wondered if it might hitch a ride on me, and then it flitted away to do something else important. It was a tiny, happy moment for me.

Not unusual at all thing: my kids. Jansen laughing his head off all alone in his room because he was harassing a fly. Natalie knowing that Jansen was at playgroup and she needed to squeeze in lots of time playing with his favorite cars...she ran around the house with one in each hand.

I have decided, and I guess always known, that there is magic in the seemingly ordinary day. I have also decided to try harder to see it and feel it and find it and experience it, because it makes me really happy when I do.

Magic moment from a few days ago...Jansen sharing his peanut butter sandwich with little sis.

Terrible Twos Becomes Even More Terrible Threes?

I don't know about anyone else, but Jansen turning three was certainly not my magic ticket to an obedient child. We have been struggling with Jansen quite a bit lately, so I am turning to my fellow bloggers for some help. I am absolutely not writing this to be told that I AM doing a wonderful job and that I AM a great mom. So don't even think about commenting about that. :) In those moments when he is being very disobedient I get sooooo frustrated and it all feels so hopeless. Hopeless that he will improve anyway. We are having MAJOR sharing issues, I feel like I am dragging him to use the toilet every time every day (sticker charts aren't working), begging him to get dressed, he is SO particular about going down the stairs first, etc. and how everything in general is done, blah blah blah. I guess my biggest question is: what is your best discipline technique? I like to use the 1...2...3... and if he isn't doing what has been asked he has a timeout...but timeout in his room doesn't seem like a punishment anymore. He is ALWAYS grabbing things out of Natalie's hands and that is a huge problem I would like to solve. And whining...do I ignore, punish, etc. I am all for distracting and making things into games, etc. but there comes a time when that just wears me out and I need a dependable way to make him stop an undesirable behavior. I would love all and any help. Email me (nye.jessica@gmail.com) or leave a comment...I will be forever in debt to you!

3!

Raise your hand if you're three...

A few of my favorites from the past year...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANSEN! We love you.

Surprise Day

I love days that surprise you. For me, this happens most often when I am NOT planning on having Nate around...and then SURPRISE SURPRISE, we get to spend some time with him! He was post call yesterday, which means that he had been at the hospital all night the night before. Make sense? Usually once he gets home he needs to sleep and study. But he actually got some sleep while at the hospital, and put off some of his studying, so we had lunch together, talked, and played with the kids for awhile. This was a wonderful relief because I had been trying to decide all morning what I would go do with the kids between Natalie's naps...and still didn't have a plan...but having lunch with dad was the perfect solution. Here is Jansen USING A SCREWDRIVER to eat his lunch. I know that is disgusting because he probably found it in the yard, but I had to take a picture before confiscating it.

The Check Up and Preschool

Natalie's one year check up found her weighing a little over 21 lbs (49th percentile) and 30 inches tall (73rd percentile). Her pediatrician actually detected a heart murmur that he said was not serious and not to worry, but he was referring us to a pediatric cardiologist. She has an appointment in a couple weeks. She HATED her immunizations. She got so upset that she just held her breath and was turning a little blue. Luckily, she hasn't had a fever or any of the other common side effects of shots. Here she is right before we headed off to the doc.

And Jansen had his first day of preschool today. He goes 2 times a week for 2 hours each day. He seemed to really enjoy it, although at this age it's so hard to get anything out of them!

Nate was on call tonight so I knew it would be a long day...thus we stopped at a park after preschool to keep us busy. Jansen promptly wet his pants, but I guess I'm just glad he didn't do it at school. My little one that has suddenly turned into a toddler:

Off we go!

Laboring the Day Away (Labor Day)

We'll start in chronological order. This picture was probably taken at like 6 in the morning...Nate left at 4:45 in the morning to go hiking with some buddies. I was so happy that he got to go do something he enjoys so much. I overheard the other guys talking about the hike and calling Nate the "Energizer Bunny" as he ran ahead, ran back, ran everywhere to be able to see birds, take pictures, and enjoy the hike. He does have endless energy and will wake up at any unheard of hour if it involves hiking or birds.

We also had dinner at the park in the very hot weather. I felt like I was in a sauna. But I really enjoy spending time with friends and making the most of a day off.

Tune in tomorrow for details about Natalie's 12 month check up and Jansen's first day of preschool!

Blogworthy

If this doesn't belong on my blog, I don't know what does. This cat is beyond awesome. I think it's name is Burger and Fries. Is that what you heard too?